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2017年考研英语二真题

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单选题

The decline in American manufacturing is a common refrain,particularly from Donald Trump."We don't make anything anymore,"he told Fox News,while defending his own made-in-Mexico clothing line.Without question,manufacturing has taken a significant hit during recent decades,and further trade deals raise questions about whether new shocks could hit manufacturing.But there is also a different way to look at the data.Across the country,factory owners are now grappling with a new challenge:instead of having too many workers,they may end up with too few.Despite trade competition and outsourcing,American manufacturing still needs to replace tens of thousands of retiring boomers every years.Millennials may not be that interested in taking their place,other industries are recruiting them with similar or better pay.For factory owners,it all adds up to stiff competition for workers-and upward pressure on wages."They're harder to find and they have job offers,"says Jay Dunwell,president of Wolverine Coil Spring,a family-owned firm,"They may be coming[into the workforce],but they've been plucked by other industries that are also doing an well as manufacturing,"Mr.Dunwell has begun bringing high school juniors to the factory so they can get exposed to its culture.At RoMan Manufacturing,a maker of electrical transformers and welding equipment that his father cofounded in 1980,Robert Roth keep a close eye on the age of his nearly 200 workers,five are retiring this year.Mr.Roth has three community-college students enrolled in a work-placement program,with a starting wage of$13 an hour that rises to$17 after two years.At a worktable inside the transformer plant,young Jason Stenquist looks flustered by the copper coils he's trying to assemble and the arrival of two visitors.It's his first week on the job.Asked about his choice of career,he says at high school he considered medical school before switching to electrical engineering."I love working with tools.I love creating."he says.But to win over these young workers,manufacturers have to clear another major hurdle:parents,who lived through the worst US economic downturn since the Great Depression,telling them to avoid the factory.Millennials"remember their father and mother both were laid off.They blame it on the manufacturing recession,"says Birgit Klohs,chief executive of The Right Place,a business development agency for western Michigan.These concerns aren't misplaced:Employment in manufacturing has fallen from 17 million in 1970 to 12 million in 2013.When the recovery began,worker shortages first appeared in the high-skilled trades.Now shortages are appearing at the mid-skill levels."The gap is between the jobs that take to skills and those that require a lot of skill,"says Rob Spohr,a business professor at Montcalm Community College."There're enough people to fill the jobs at McDonalds and other places where you don't need to have much skill.It's that gap in between,and that's where the problem is."Julie Parks of Grand Rapids Community points to another key to luring Millennials into manufacturing:a work/life balance.While their parents were content to work long hours,young people value flexibility."Overtime is not attractive to this generation.They really want to live their lives,"she says.

Birgit Klohs____

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正确答案:E

本题解析:

G由题干中的Birgit Klohs可定位到第八段第二、三句:Millennials"remember their father and mother both were laid off.They blame it on the manufacturing recession,"says Birgit Klohs,chief executive of The Right Place,a business development agency for western Michigan.由定

单选题

Text 4 Though often viewed as a problem for western states,the growing frequency of wildfires is a national concern because of its impact on federal tax dollars,says Professor Max Moritz,a specialist in fire ecology and management.In 2015,the US Forest Service for the first time spent more than half of its$5.5 billion annual budget fighting fires-nearly double the percentage it spent on such efforts 20 years ago.In effect,fewer federal funds today are going towards the agency's other work-such as forest conservation,watershed and cultural resources management,and infrastructure upkeep-that affect the lives of all Americans.Another nationwide concern is whether public funds from other agencies are going into construction in fire-prone districts.As Moritz puts it,how often are federal dollars building homes that are likely to be lost to a wildfire?“It’s already a huge problem from a public expenditure perspective for the whole country,”he says.We need to take a magnifying glass to that.Like,“Wait a minute,is this OK?”“Do we want instead to redirect those funds to concentrate on lower-hazard parts of the landscape?”Such a view would require a corresponding shift in the way US society today views fire,researchers say.For one thing,conversations about wildfires need to be more inclusive.Over the past decade,the focus has been on climate change-how the warming of the Earth from greenhouse gases is leading to conditions that worsen fires.While climate is a key element,Moritz says,it shouldn’t come at the expense of the rest of the equation.“The human systems and the landscapes we live on are linked,and the interactions go both ways,"he says.Failing to recognize that,he notes,leads to"an overly simplified view of what the solutions might be.Our perception of the problem and of what the solution is becomes very limited.”At the same time,people continue to treat fire as an event that needs to be wholly controlled and unleashed only out of necessity,says Professor Balch at the University of Colorado.But acknowledging fire's inevitable presence in human life is an attitude crucial to developing the laws,policies,and practices that make it as safe as possible,she says.“We’ve disconnected ourselves from living with fire,”Balch says.“It is really important to understand and try and tease out what is the human connection with fire today.”

Professor Balch points out that fire is something man should____

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正确答案:B

本题解析:

根据题干关键词Professor Balch和fire可以定位至倒数第二段。在该段中,鲍尔奇教授提出,人们不应将火灾看成是一种需要完全控制的事件,而应该认识到火灾是人类生活中不可避免的,只有这样,才能通过制定相关的法规政策和采取适当的行动,将它尽可能地控制在更安全的范围之内,可见,她认为对于火,人们应该采取一种接受的态度,故正确答案为B。

单选题

The decline in American manufacturing is a common refrain,particularly from Donald Trump."We don't make anything anymore,"he told Fox News,while defending his own made-in-Mexico clothing line.Without question,manufacturing has taken a significant hit during recent decades,and further trade deals raise questions about whether new shocks could hit manufacturing.But there is also a different way to look at the data.Across the country,factory owners are now grappling with a new challenge:instead of having too many workers,they may end up with too few.Despite trade competition and outsourcing,American manufacturing still needs to replace tens of thousands of retiring boomers every years.Millennials may not be that interested in taking their place,other industries are recruiting them with similar or better pay.For factory owners,it all adds up to stiff competition for workers-and upward pressure on wages."They're harder to find and they have job offers,"says Jay Dunwell,president of Wolverine Coil Spring,a family-owned firm,"They may be coming[into the workforce],but they've been plucked by other industries that are also doing an well as manufacturing,"Mr.Dunwell has begun bringing high school juniors to the factory so they can get exposed to its culture.At RoMan Manufacturing,a maker of electrical transformers and welding equipment that his father cofounded in 1980,Robert Roth keep a close eye on the age of his nearly 200 workers,five are retiring this year.Mr.Roth has three community-college students enrolled in a work-placement program,with a starting wage of$13 an hour that rises to$17 after two years.At a worktable inside the transformer plant,young Jason Stenquist looks flustered by the copper coils he's trying to assemble and the arrival of two visitors.It's his first week on the job.Asked about his choice of career,he says at high school he considered medical school before switching to electrical engineering."I love working with tools.I love creating."he says.But to win over these young workers,manufacturers have to clear another major hurdle:parents,who lived through the worst US economic downturn since the Great Depression,telling them to avoid the factory.Millennials"remember their father and mother both were laid off.They blame it on the manufacturing recession,"says Birgit Klohs,chief executive of The Right Place,a business development agency for western Michigan.These concerns aren't misplaced:Employment in manufacturing has fallen from 17 million in 1970 to 12 million in 2013.When the recovery began,worker shortages first appeared in the high-skilled trades.Now shortages are appearing at the mid-skill levels."The gap is between the jobs that take to skills and those that require a lot of skill,"says Rob Spohr,a business professor at Montcalm Community College."There're enough people to fill the jobs at McDonalds and other places where you don't need to have much skill.It's that gap in between,and that's where the problem is."Julie Parks of Grand Rapids Community points to another key to luring Millennials into manufacturing:a work/life balance.While their parents were content to work long hours,young people value flexibility."Overtime is not attractive to this generation.They really want to live their lives,"she says.

Rob Spohr____

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正确答案:B

本题解析:

B由题干中的Rob Spohr可定位到第十段:“The gap is between the jobs that take to skills and those that require a lot of skill,"says Rob Spohr,a business professor at Montcalm Community College."There're enough people to fill the jobs at McDonalds and other places w

单选题

The decline in American manufacturing is a common refrain,particularly from Donald Trump."We don't make anything anymore,"he told Fox News,while defending his own made-in-Mexico clothing line.Without question,manufacturing has taken a significant hit during recent decades,and further trade deals raise questions about whether new shocks could hit manufacturing.But there is also a different way to look at the data.Across the country,factory owners are now grappling with a new challenge:instead of having too many workers,they may end up with too few.Despite trade competition and outsourcing,American manufacturing still needs to replace tens of thousands of retiring boomers every years.Millennials may not be that interested in taking their place,other industries are recruiting them with similar or better pay.For factory owners,it all adds up to stiff competition for workers-and upward pressure on wages."They're harder to find and they have job offers,"says Jay Dunwell,president of Wolverine Coil Spring,a family-owned firm,"They may be coming[into the workforce],but they've been plucked by other industries that are also doing an well as manufacturing,"Mr.Dunwell has begun bringing high school juniors to the factory so they can get exposed to its culture.At RoMan Manufacturing,a maker of electrical transformers and welding equipment that his father cofounded in 1980,Robert Roth keep a close eye on the age of his nearly 200 workers,five are retiring this year.Mr.Roth has three community-college students enrolled in a work-placement program,with a starting wage of$13 an hour that rises to$17 after two years.At a worktable inside the transformer plant,young Jason Stenquist looks flustered by the copper coils he's trying to assemble and the arrival of two visitors.It's his first week on the job.Asked about his choice of career,he says at high school he considered medical school before switching to electrical engineering."I love working with tools.I love creating."he says.But to win over these young workers,manufacturers have to clear another major hurdle:parents,who lived through the worst US economic downturn since the Great Depression,telling them to avoid the factory.Millennials"remember their father and mother both were laid off.They blame it on the manufacturing recession,"says Birgit Klohs,chief executive of The Right Place,a business development agency for western Michigan.These concerns aren't misplaced:Employment in manufacturing has fallen from 17 million in 1970 to 12 million in 2013.When the recovery began,worker shortages first appeared in the high-skilled trades.Now shortages are appearing at the mid-skill levels."The gap is between the jobs that take to skills and those that require a lot of skill,"says Rob Spohr,a business professor at Montcalm Community College."There're enough people to fill the jobs at McDonalds and other places where you don't need to have much skill.It's that gap in between,and that's where the problem is."Julie Parks of Grand Rapids Community points to another key to luring Millennials into manufacturing:a work/life balance.While their parents were content to work long hours,young people value flexibility."Overtime is not attractive to this generation.They really want to live their lives,"she says.

Jason Stenquist____

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正确答案:A

本题解析:

A由题干中的Jason Stenquist可定位到第七段第三、四、五句:Asked about his choice of career,he says at high school he considered medical school before switching to electrical engineering."I love working with tools.I love creating."he says.有定位句可知,斯滕奎斯特喜欢与工具打交道,因此A为正确答案

单选题

Text 4 Though often viewed as a problem for western states,the growing frequency of wildfires is a national concern because of its impact on federal tax dollars,says Professor Max Moritz,a specialist in fire ecology and management.In 2015,the US Forest Service for the first time spent more than half of its$5.5 billion annual budget fighting fires-nearly double the percentage it spent on such efforts 20 years ago.In effect,fewer federal funds today are going towards the agency's other work-such as forest conservation,watershed and cultural resources management,and infrastructure upkeep-that affect the lives of all Americans.Another nationwide concern is whether public funds from other agencies are going into construction in fire-prone districts.As Moritz puts it,how often are federal dollars building homes that are likely to be lost to a wildfire?“It’s already a huge problem from a public expenditure perspective for the whole country,”he says.We need to take a magnifying glass to that.Like,“Wait a minute,is this OK?”“Do we want instead to redirect those funds to concentrate on lower-hazard parts of the landscape?”Such a view would require a corresponding shift in the way US society today views fire,researchers say.For one thing,conversations about wildfires need to be more inclusive.Over the past decade,the focus has been on climate change-how the warming of the Earth from greenhouse gases is leading to conditions that worsen fires.While climate is a key element,Moritz says,it shouldn’t come at the expense of the rest of the equation.“The human systems and the landscapes we live on are linked,and the interactions go both ways,"he says.Failing to recognize that,he notes,leads to"an overly simplified view of what the solutions might be.Our perception of the problem and of what the solution is becomes very limited.”At the same time,people continue to treat fire as an event that needs to be wholly controlled and unleashed only out of necessity,says Professor Balch at the University of Colorado.But acknowledging fire's inevitable presence in human life is an attitude crucial to developing the laws,policies,and practices that make it as safe as possible,she says.“We’ve disconnected ourselves from living with fire,”Balch says.“It is really important to understand and try and tease out what is the human connection with fire today.”

More frequent wildfires have become a national concern because in 2015 they_____

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正确答案:B

本题解析:

根据题干关键词wildfires和in 2015可以定位到第二段第一句。定位句指出,“2015年,美国森林管理局首次花费了其年度预算五十五亿美元的一半以上用于扑灭火灾——比例相较二十年前几乎翻番”,由此可知,花费在火灾上的预算百分比达到了历史上的最高水平,故正确答案为B。

单选题

Text 3 Today,widespread social pressure to immediately go to college in conjunction with increasingly high expectations in a fast-moving world often causes students to completely overlook the possibility of taking a gap year.After all,if everyone you know is going to college in the fall,it seems silly to stay back a year,doesn't it?And after going to school for 12 years,it doesn't feel natural to spend a year doing something that isn’t academic.But while this may be true,it’s not a good enough reason to condemn gap years.There's always a constant fear of falling behind everyone else on the socially perpetuated“race to the finish line,”whether that be toward graduate school,medical school or lucrative career.But despite common misconceptions,a gap year does not hinder the success of academic pursuits-in fact,it probably enhances it.Studies from the United States and Australia show that students who take a gap year are generally better prepared for and perform better in college than those who do not.Rather than pulling students back,a gap year pushes them ahead by preparing them for independence,new responsibilities and environmental changes-all things that first-year students often struggle with the most.Gap year experiences can lessen the blow when it comes to adjusting to college and being thrown into a brand new environment,making it easier to focus on academics and activities rather than acclimation blunders.If you're not convinced of the inherent value in taking a year off to explore interests,then consider its financial impact on future academic choices.According to the National Center for Education Statistics,nearly 80 percent of college students end up changing their majors at least once.This isn’t surprising,considering the basic mandatory high school curriculum leaves students with a poor understanding of themselves listing one major on their college applications,but switching to another after taking college classes.It’s not necessarily a bad thing,but depending on the school,it can be costly to make up credits after switching too late in the game.At Boston College,for example,you would have to complete an extra year were you to switch to the nursing school from another department.Taking a gap year to figure things out initially can help prevent stress and save money later on.

The word“acclimation”(Line 8,Para.3)is closest in meaning to_____

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正确答案:A

本题解析:

根据题干关键词“acclimation”(Line 6,Para.3)定位到第三段最后一句。定位句指出,空档年的经历可以减轻适应大学生活和突然进入全新环境时的各种冲击,使他们更容易将精力集中在学术和活动上,并且在acclimation之后是名词blunders“失误”。定位句主要在强调适应全新环境的问题,由此可知,可能出现的失误或者障碍都应该是与适应环境有关的,故正确答案为A。

单选题

Text 2 With so much focus on children’s use of screens,it's easy for parents to forget about their own screen use.“Tech is designed to really suck on you in,”says Jenny Radesky in her study of digital play,"and digital products are there to promote maximal engagement.It makes it hard to disengage,and leads to a lot of bleed-over into the family routine.”Radesky has studied the use of mobile phones and tablets at mealtimes by giving mother-child pairs a food-testing exercise.She found that mothers who sued devices during the exercise started 20 percent fewer verbal and 39 percent fewer nonverbal interactions with their children.During a separate observation,she saw that phones became a source of tension in the family.Parents would be looking at their emails while the children would be making excited bids for their attention.Infants are wired to look at parents’faces to try to understand their world,and if those faces are blank and unresponsive—as they often are when absorbed in a device-it can be extremely disconcerting foe the children.Radesky cites the“still face experiment”devised by developmental psychologist Ed Tronick in the 1970s.In it,a mother is asked to interact with her child in a normal way before putting on a blank expression and not giving them any visual social feedback;The child becomes increasingly distressed as she tries to capture her mother’s attention."Parents don't have to be exquisitely parents at all times,but there needs to be a balance and parents need to be responsive and sensitive to a child’s verbal or nonverbal expressions of an emotional need,"says Radesky.On the other hand,Tronick himself is concerned that the worries about kids'use of screens are born out of an“oppressive ideology that demands that parents should always be interacting”with their children:“It’s based on a somewhat fantasized,very white,very upper-middle-class ideology that says if you’re failing to expose your child to 30,000 words you are neglecting them.”Tronick believes that just because a child isn’t learning from the screen doesn’t mean there’s no value to it-particularly if it gives parents time to have a shower,do housework or simply have a break from their child.Parents,he says,can get a lot out of using their devices to speak to a friend or get some work out of the way.This can make them feel happier,which lets then be more available to their child the rest of the time.

According to Tronick,kid’s use of screens may_____

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正确答案:A

本题解析:

根据题干关键词Tronick和kid’s use of screens可以定位到第四段第二句。定位句指出,特罗尼克认为,尽管孩子可能无法从电子设备上学到东西,但是不能因此就认为它没有价值,因为这可以给父母时间来洗澡、做家务,或者只是从照顾孩子的过程中获得休息时间,也就是获得一些自由时间,由此可知,正确答案为A。

单选题

Text 4 Though often viewed as a problem for western states,the growing frequency of wildfires is a national concern because of its impact on federal tax dollars,says Professor Max Moritz,a specialist in fire ecology and management.In 2015,the US Forest Service for the first time spent more than half of its$5.5 billion annual budget fighting fires-nearly double the percentage it spent on such efforts 20 years ago.In effect,fewer federal funds today are going towards the agency's other work-such as forest conservation,watershed and cultural resources management,and infrastructure upkeep-that affect the lives of all Americans.Another nationwide concern is whether public funds from other agencies are going into construction in fire-prone districts.As Moritz puts it,how often are federal dollars building homes that are likely to be lost to a wildfire?“It’s already a huge problem from a public expenditure perspective for the whole country,”he says.We need to take a magnifying glass to that.Like,“Wait a minute,is this OK?”“Do we want instead to redirect those funds to concentrate on lower-hazard parts of the landscape?”Such a view would require a corresponding shift in the way US society today views fire,researchers say.For one thing,conversations about wildfires need to be more inclusive.Over the past decade,the focus has been on climate change-how the warming of the Earth from greenhouse gases is leading to conditions that worsen fires.While climate is a key element,Moritz says,it shouldn’t come at the expense of the rest of the equation.“The human systems and the landscapes we live on are linked,and the interactions go both ways,"he says.Failing to recognize that,he notes,leads to"an overly simplified view of what the solutions might be.Our perception of the problem and of what the solution is becomes very limited.”At the same time,people continue to treat fire as an event that needs to be wholly controlled and unleashed only out of necessity,says Professor Balch at the University of Colorado.But acknowledging fire's inevitable presence in human life is an attitude crucial to developing the laws,policies,and practices that make it as safe as possible,she says.“We’ve disconnected ourselves from living with fire,”Balch says.“It is really important to understand and try and tease out what is the human connection with fire today.”

Moritz calls for the use of"a magnifying glass"to____

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正确答案:D

本题解析:

根据题干关键词"a magnifying glass"可以定位到第四段第二句。定位句提到“我们需要戴上放大镜来看待此事”,而根据前面一句所说,从全国公共开支的角度来看,控制火灾的经费增加已经成为一个重大的问题,可推知“此事”,就是指公共经费的使用,而定位之后提到“我们是不是要把那些资金转投土地风险更低的地方?”由此可知,戴上“放大镜”是为了确保公共经费更安全地使用,故正确答案为D。

单选题

Text 3 Today,widespread social pressure to immediately go to college in conjunction with increasingly high expectations in a fast-moving world often causes students to completely overlook the possibility of taking a gap year.After all,if everyone you know is going to college in the fall,it seems silly to stay back a year,doesn't it?And after going to school for 12 years,it doesn't feel natural to spend a year doing something that isn’t academic.But while this may be true,it’s not a good enough reason to condemn gap years.There's always a constant fear of falling behind everyone else on the socially perpetuated“race to the finish line,”whether that be toward graduate school,medical school or lucrative career.But despite common misconceptions,a gap year does not hinder the success of academic pursuits-in fact,it probably enhances it.Studies from the United States and Australia show that students who take a gap year are generally better prepared for and perform better in college than those who do not.Rather than pulling students back,a gap year pushes them ahead by preparing them for independence,new responsibilities and environmental changes-all things that first-year students often struggle with the most.Gap year experiences can lessen the blow when it comes to adjusting to college and being thrown into a brand new environment,making it easier to focus on academics and activities rather than acclimation blunders.If you're not convinced of the inherent value in taking a year off to explore interests,then consider its financial impact on future academic choices.According to the National Center for Education Statistics,nearly 80 percent of college students end up changing their majors at least once.This isn’t surprising,considering the basic mandatory high school curriculum leaves students with a poor understanding of themselves listing one major on their college applications,but switching to another after taking college classes.It’s not necessarily a bad thing,but depending on the school,it can be costly to make up credits after switching too late in the game.At Boston College,for example,you would have to complete an extra year were you to switch to the nursing school from another department.Taking a gap year to figure things out initially can help prevent stress and save money later on.

Studies from the US and Australia imply that taking a gap year helps_____

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正确答案:D

本题解析:

根据题干关键词the US and Australia可以定位到第三段第一、二句。定位句指出,来自美国和澳大利亚的研究显示,度过空档年的学生整体上比没有度过空档年的学生准备更加充分,在大学中表现得也更好。空档年有助于他们在独立性、承担新责任和应对环境变化等方面做好准备,也就是说可以缓解他们的压力,由此可见,正确答案为D。

单选题

Text 3 Today,widespread social pressure to immediately go to college in conjunction with increasingly high expectations in a fast-moving world often causes students to completely overlook the possibility of taking a gap year.After all,if everyone you know is going to college in the fall,it seems silly to stay back a year,doesn't it?And after going to school for 12 years,it doesn't feel natural to spend a year doing something that isn’t academic.But while this may be true,it’s not a good enough reason to condemn gap years.There's always a constant fear of falling behind everyone else on the socially perpetuated“race to the finish line,”whether that be toward graduate school,medical school or lucrative career.But despite common misconceptions,a gap year does not hinder the success of academic pursuits-in fact,it probably enhances it.Studies from the United States and Australia show that students who take a gap year are generally better prepared for and perform better in college than those who do not.Rather than pulling students back,a gap year pushes them ahead by preparing them for independence,new responsibilities and environmental changes-all things that first-year students often struggle with the most.Gap year experiences can lessen the blow when it comes to adjusting to college and being thrown into a brand new environment,making it easier to focus on academics and activities rather than acclimation blunders.If you're not convinced of the inherent value in taking a year off to explore interests,then consider its financial impact on future academic choices.According to the National Center for Education Statistics,nearly 80 percent of college students end up changing their majors at least once.This isn’t surprising,considering the basic mandatory high school curriculum leaves students with a poor understanding of themselves listing one major on their college applications,but switching to another after taking college classes.It’s not necessarily a bad thing,but depending on the school,it can be costly to make up credits after switching too late in the game.At Boston College,for example,you would have to complete an extra year were you to switch to the nursing school from another department.Taking a gap year to figure things out initially can help prevent stress and save money later on.

A gap year may save money for students by helping them____

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正确答案:D

本题解析:

根据题干关键词save money和by helping可以定位到第四段第一句,定位句指出,“如果度过一个空档年去发现兴趣点的内在价值还不足以令你信服的话,那么考虑一下它对未来学业选择的经济影响吧。”在随后的分析中,作者指出,高校新生换专业十分频繁,因为他们多半在入学前不了解自己的真正需求和大学学业特点,空档年有助于他们想清楚自己的实际兴趣和需要,避免换专业带来的经济等方面压力,由此可知,正确答案为D。

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